Envirosax is pleased to announce the availability of its newest designs for 09: Candy and Oxford.
These designs have made big waves at the January gift and fashion shows and are available now from our website!
Each individual reusable bag in the new Candy Series is a stand alone eco-fashion statement. The reusable bags were designed with a 70′s Italian chich, with the modern active woman in mind. Oxford on the other hand takes a more gender neutral approach.
Much excitement was to be had at the January show by men who in the past loved our reusable bags, but wanted designs with a more subtle look. There was no less excitement from the women over the classic patterns of the Oxford Series. Most mentioned the “urban” feel and could picture themselves using Oxford bags on the days you just want to be casual whilst running errands.
In 2009 the new Envirosax designs give you the opportunity to express your individuality.
For those of you, who, like me, are not that clear on what a hydrogen fuel cell is, it’s basically a process whereby hydrogen and oxygen combine to create a current of electricity, where the only by-product is water vapour. Clearly this is much more desirable than the polluting carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide which are released from petrol run vehicles.
With the growing concern for the environment and the high price of petrol, hydrogen fuel cells have finally been brought into the limelight.
A hydrogen fuel cell Chevrolet Equinox car was presented at the Detroit Auto show in early January this year, signaling the start of a genuine move to more energy efficient vehicles. While Honda and Toyota have been working on fuel cells for commercial use for years, with Honda developing 200 hydrogen cars for commercial sales in 2008, it has taken the rising petrol prices and an economic crisis for US car companies to realise that fuel cells are the way forward, however, the hydrogen infrastructure needed and the high cost of the cars ($100,000) means that the hydrogen-powered future for cars is not within immediate reach.
Check out this fantastic video of the ENV hydrogen-powered motor bike, which has been developed at a cost of only $6000. At this price these could be seen on the road in the next two years, if only more places follow California’s lead and invest in the hydrogen filling stations needed.
While car companies argue about the economic value of producing hydrogen fuel cells, a Queensland school has been leading the way in developing them.
Our first Guest writer, Dr Antoine Durandet, the head of science at All Saints Anglican school, Australia, explains why they started working on them, and what the students did.
“In the last couple of years we have introduced hydrogen fuel cells as a context to teach science in senior high school. Our main drive is to introduce concepts that expand our students’ understanding and appreciation of a sustainable future, while teaching the core subjects.
I have a background is plasma physics and spent 15 years in research laboratories as an experimental physicist before becoming a teacher ( by the way the best job i ever had!), so I am constantly looking for new challenges and projects for our students. Our biggest project was in 2007, when a team of students constructed a speed boat (scale model), powered by a 100w hydrogen fuel cell. The boat was presented at the Solar Boat Challenge on the Gold Coast.
In 2008, a group of 4 students from All Saints attended the students forum at the 17th World Hydrogen Economy Conference (WHEC 08, Brisbane Australia, March 08 Together with other teams from Australia, New Zealand and USA, they investigated the properties of Hydrogen Fuel cells. No doubt these guys will be our experts in 2009!
All Saints is a leading school in sustainability and especially in hydrogen fuel cell, as a result our students have hands on experiences with this state of the art technology. If you have any interest in this technology, please contact us.”
Self anointed Green Living Goddess – Antoinette Nue appeared on TV show Focus Atlanta recently and demonstrated how using an Envirosax bag is one of the quickest and easiest ways to “start going green” without losing your fashion edge.
Presenter Keisha Williams explained that most consumers find the whole ‘going green’ concept a little overwhelming and often don’t know where to start, leaving it in the ‘too hard basket.’
Antoinette offers practical tips to get started, suggesting that the best place to begin is with something in which you are interested or passionate about, as you are more likely to continue. So whether that is recycling or only buying clothes made out of organic fibres, every little action will have a positive impact on the environment.
Shopping is one of Antoinette’s favourite pass times and “carrying your own reusable shopping bags is one of the most important things you can do to help the environment” she says, “landfill is full of plastic that won’t biodegrade for 1,000 years.”
So while there are many reusable shopping bag options around, to ‘go green without sacrificing your bling’, Antoinette chooses Envirosax bags for their convenience and stylish range of designs. Going green has never been so easy, fun and fashionable.
The British Labour party under Tony Blair believed that educating future generations was the key to a successful country and sustainable world – and Envirosax agrees.
‘One use’ plastic bags are going to be a continuing problem in the future unless people are taught about the problems and given an alternative. In recent weeks, I have seen the benefits of Envirosax’s efforts to create awareness and provide an alternative.
The above photo is of a school charity event in Singapore to raise much needed awareness about plastic bags. Having lived in Singapore, I know all too well that they are behind on all things green and one use plastic bags are still a major problem there. (Forget your groceries, Singporeans love plastic bags so much you can buy your iced coffee in them!)
As the world’s largest consumer, China uses nearly 3 billion plastic shopping bags a day; or at least they did until recently. The Chinese government announced earlier this year that they were banning plastic bag use in all shops and any that were used must be purchased. This policy came in to effect on 1st June and has been praised by environmental groups and other governments for its success. However, continued education is also needed, so that children understand the ban and the importance of reusable bags to protect their environment and reduce pollution.
Finally to Perth, Australia, where I received this fantastic story:
“I take my, almost 3 year old, grandaughter to the markets fairly often and she loves to hang my bag around her neck to be “the shopping lady” and get the fruit and veg. Last week as we were walking from the car she stopped, looked up at me, patted the bag and said “Tiny, I want a bag just like this for my birthday!”
Later her mother said it is the first time she has indicated she knows you can ask for things for your birthday … and what does she want – an ENVIROSAX of course.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently proposed a plastic bag tax in an effort to generate income and change the behavior of city residents.
Bloomberg’s idea is to implement a 6-cent fee on each bag, a penny of which would go to merchants as an incentive to keep track of the fees collected. It’s estimated that New Yorkers use 1 billion bags per year, and that the tax would bring in $16 billion for the city.
Like many cities across the country, the Big Apple is cash-strapped, and this is just one of the ways that Mayor Bloomberg proposes that his city close the budget gap it faces.
But city residents, not just its government, are also in economic distress. In a New York Daily News online poll, 53 percent of respondents thought that the plastic bag tax was a bad idea because “times are hard enough.” On the other hand, another poll on the same website reveals that 56 percent of respondents thought that the additional tax was enough to make them change their behavior.
If these polls generally reflect the opinions of New Yorkers, then the plastic bag tax would accomplish the behavioral change that the Mayor seeks.
“That’s like having a cigarette tax,” argued the mayor. ”The most wonderful thing in the world would be if we collected nothing from our cigarette tax. Think about how many people’s lives you’d save.”
San Francisco and Oakland, CA were the first and second cities to ban “urban tumbleweed,” and earlier this year, Los Angeles also followed suit with a law to take effect in 2010.
“This is a major moment for our city, to bite the bullet and go with something that is more ecologically sensitive than what we’ve ever done before,” said Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl, according to a story in the July 23rd Los Angeles Times.
Many other cities have considered similar legislation, which in numerous cases, has been voted down by local councils. However, other municipalities like Portland, Seattle, and Phoenix are attempting to take action against the single-use plastic, and have serious legislation with strong support in the pipeline.
Commendations to these progressive city leaders who have fought for their cities to make a move in the right direction.
Hopefully, New York City’s leaders will be bold in passing the tax proposal. If the largest city in the country, and the second largest in the world, took this major step in legislating more eco-friendly lifestyles and the use of reusable shopping bags, they would be setting a shining example for the rest of the world.
This is a guest blog post from a friend of the Envirosax team who is currently backpacking around Australia. Having never lived in a coastal environment before, her perspective on a problem us coast-dwellers are sometimes complacent about is a refreshing wake-up call.
Traveling around the East coast of Australia I’ve been hearing stories from scuba divers, aquarium workers and locals on the beaches, about the growing problem of plastic bags on marine habitats. The most common story is of turtles dying after swallowing plastic bags they have mistaken for jellyfish. However this is hard to comprehend when there is limited coverage on the exact effects of disposable plastic bags on wildlife. Or so I thought, until last weekend when I read in the local news that a 3.5m crocodile died of starvation after swallowing 25 plastic shopping and garbage bags, a plastic wine cooler and a rubber float. The build up of plastic in his stomach prevented him from digesting food and led to his death in captivity on Sunday, after being taken in by authorities the previous day. What a horrible way to go.
After reading this I did a bit more research in to the actual numbers of wildlife deaths from plastic, and found that the Australian Seabird Rescue estimate that there are about 100,000 animals killed by plastic each year… so apparently our crocodile Whitey, as he was named, is far from the only casualty.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said Whitey’s death “reinforces our general view that the amount of marine debris in the ocean is too much and it’s damaging wildlife.”
Spending even a small amount of time researching the dangers of plastic bags turns up a frightening amount of information, but one that made the most impact on me was this documentary from Vice Magazine about the colossal amount of plastic waste (larger than Texas apparently!) now collecting in the middle of the Pacific Ocean:
Envirosax is introducing a new series, Botanica, to our product offerings. Inspired by the world’s rainforests, the BOTANICA® Series offers five new fun, fresh graphic prints.
Envirosax founder Belinda David-Tooze lives on once damaged Australian rainforest, and has spent years investing in regenerating it. After much success with her own land, she was moved to design Botanica.
The Earth’s rainforests are splendid treasures with abundant plant and animal life, but are in serious danger from numerous sources such as deforestation and climate change. We encourage you to go onto our site to learn more about a rainforest in your region, and to find out how you can help protect this all-important part of our natural heritage.
On October 15, 2008, Courtney Cox and David Arquette launched their new organic clothing line, Propr, in their Beverly Hills home. Cox and Arquette wanted 10 eco-friendly companies to showcase their products, and Envirosax was invited to be one of them!
Also cool is the fact that all proceeds from the event went to the charity Art of Elysium, an organization that encourages celebrities to volunteer their time and talents to children battling serious medical illnesses.
GBK Productions, one of the companies producing this event ordered their own custom Envirosax for the A-Listers like Jennifer Aniston and Cindy Crawford, and used our Monochromatic 4 bag for all other important guests.
Despite the reclusive nature of many celebs, we nabbed some great shots of David Arquette with the new Botanica 3 bag, and of Kelly Slater with GBK’s custom Envirosax. Have a look!
Click the facebook link to check it out, become a fan on the Envirosax page to show your support and get involved.
You can view the latest events we are involved with, add your own Envirosax photos to the “Envirosax around the world” album, join discussions and even enter the occasional competition.
Envirosax has participated in the GBK Productions Emmy Gifting Suite held September 17th and 18th at the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles.
The response to our bags and shower timers was fantastic! We met and got pictures with some great celebs including Phylicia Rashad, Joey Lawrence, Neil Patrick Harris, Kevin Sorbo, Sean Patrick Thomas, Shar Jackson, Vern “Mini-Me” Troyer, and Jean Smart.
We also got some shots with Joey Fatone of ‘N Sync, Greg Finley of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Jo De La Rosa & Slade SmileyofDate My Ex: Jo & Slade, Julie Benz; of the TV show Dexter, and many more.
Kevin Sorbo raved, “This is going to make my wife so happy!” When given a Piggy in the Middle bag for his daughter he said, “She’s going to go crazy over this!”
What writer and actress Jackie Collins thought: “This is fantastic!”
When presented his Envirosax, Joey Lawrence said, “This is perfect, we’re always going to Trader Joe’s. Honey look!”
